Dance Lessons
by Althea SaDiablo
Summary: Yeah, you fought the forces of darkness and won. Doesn't exempt you from the trials and tribulations of teenage life- like homework. And dancing at prom. Well, at least you've got a date. Heck, you've got two. So what if one of them doesn't realize it?


**Author's note:** Well, so much for "only KH fic." Because here's another one. Both this and "Home Sweet Home" can be considered to be from the same continuity, but they also work perfectly well as standalone efforts- I have no particular plans or feelings towards either option as of yet. This one is pure silliness on my part. Credit for the idea really goes to Yamino Majo, because she is truly and insidiously evil. And her thoughts on prom shenanigans rather more hilarious, in my opinion.

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"What are we gonna _do_ at prom?" Sora asked out of the blue, around a mouthful of rice and pineapple.

"Eat," Riku said succinctly. He was already finished his lunch- he always ate neatly and efficiently now, putting away the necessary calories in a businesslike way.

"Dance," Kairi said firmly, portioning out the cookies she had made the previous evening and managed to hide from Sora. She had also patiently tutored them both in math, refusing to give up what had been their Tuesday night routine through high school even though both Sora and Riku were now out of severe academic danger. It was only her steadfast stubbornness that had pulled them through with passing grades, and both sets of parents regarded her with awe- and a certain amount of worry for her absolute power over their boys.

"Er," Sora said. "I don't dance. I tried once, in Atlantica. It didn't end well."

"It's _prom_," Kairi said reasonably. "It's a _dance_. Ergo you dance."

"I had two left feet," Sora said. "And I didn't even _have_ feet."

"It's not that hard," Riku said. He was slouched mostly in the shade of one of the cement pillars that fenced in the roof of the school, since he sunburned. Sora didn't; he tanned a healthy brown and stayed that way, thriving on the sunlight like the tropical plants of the island.

Kairi's eyebrows rose. "You? Can dance?"

Riku shrugged. "Like I said."

"_Man_," Sora sprawled backward on the heated asphalt. "Not _fair_."

"Since when?" Kairi pressed, interested.

"The King taught me," Riku shrugged. "Wasn't much else to do there for a while. It's no big thing."

"You can _dance_." Kairi flipped to her feet in a single smooth move- Riku's trick, she'd been practicing. "Show me, come on."

He didn't move." "I only know the old fashioned way. That's no good for prom."

"Sure it's good." Sora had a gleam of mischeif in his eyes, and mirrored Kairi, springing up in a perfect contortion from the shoulder.

Kairi clapped. "10 points."

He grinned. "Looks better when you do it. Come on, Riku. I'm not gonna believe you until I see it."

They both grabbed a hand and pulled Riku to his feet with a coordinated double heave. He came reluctantly, so it took a little while- there was a lot of him to unfold. Awkwardly he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't care if you don't believe me."

"Riku," Kairi said sternly, "you can't say something like that and not back it up."

"There's no music," he protested.

Sora put his hands on his hips. "You and the King carried a band around in your pockets? I'll whistle. Quit stalling."

Riku sighed and coughed into his hand. "Fine, fine." He closed his eyes briefly and straightened out of his habitual slouch to stand at his full height. Then he faced Kairi and made her an elegant, courtly bow. "My lady, if you would honor me?"

She laughed and curtseyed in return, and it looked lovely and regal despite the short pleated skirt of her uniform. "My lord knight, nothing would please me more."

She laid her hand on the crook of his elbow and he led her ceremoniously out into the middle of the roof, then into the circle of his arms. "Start with your right foot."

Sora licked his lips and managed to produce a credible if reedy waltz, and the two stepped into it. And it was immediately apparent that Riku was actually good- hell, of course he was good at it, Sora thought, he was Riku. Kairi seemed to float in his arms, following effortlessly along with him, instantly responding to his guiding hand in the small of her back. He was relaxed and yet sure, even graceful, and she tilted back her head to gaze into his eyes. Everything disappeared except for the two of them, and Sora forgot to whistle- forgot to breathe as they whirled across the roof as if blown by the wind.

They wound down all too soon; Riku let her go and stepped back, and Kairi laughed a little breathlessly and did her princess-curtsy again. "You really can dance. Woah."

"You stopped," Sora complained.

"You stopped whistling," Riku said. "Anyway, like I said, it's not that hard."

"Then teach me!" Sora bounced out into the center of the roof, game as always. "I don't wanna be left out."

"Kairi can teach you. She did just fine."

"I just folllowed your lead," Kairi protested. "That's not anything like leading myself. And I'm not big enough to push this lummox around."

"What s a lummox, anyway? I've always wondered." Sora shrugged, then performed a somewhat comical rendition of Riku's earlier bow. "May I have this dance?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Idiot. You're gonna have to be the girl to start out with, otherwise I won't be able to teach you."

"What's the difference?"

"The guy leads, the girl follows. Usually." Kairi shoved Sora forward by the hips. "Hands up- yeah, like that. Riku puts his hand on your back, you put your hand on his shoulder or his arm. Then your right hand goes in his left hand."

"That's the direction we step first. Then back the other way- like making a triangle. Not hard. Now- step!"

They both stepped- left. Which meant effectively they went nowhere at all, since Sora was too strong and Riku too large to be moved contrary to their respective wills.

"You said towards my hand!" Sora protested at Riku's wordless look.

"Your _right_ hand," said Riku, "the one I'm holding. Let's try it again."

Getting them both to move in the same direction for more than two steps at a time ended up requiring further help from Kairi, who tried valiantly not to laugh as she tried to guide Sora from behind. She muffled her giggles in Sora's shoulder as they swayed jerkily back and forth to a litany of Riku's voice going, "Left- other left- right, left, big right. Yes, right- no no no left, I meant left, Sora, just relax and don't fight me. Yes, good, now- no, not quite- aurgh. Kairi, can you let him switch places with you for a bit? Maybe if he feels you do it he'll get the hang of it."

Sora, ever the mature one, stuck his tongue out at Riku, but readily took Kairi's place so that she was between them. He waited until Riku was in place before delicately arranging his fingers on the curve of her hip, and she gave him an amused blue glance out of the corner of her eye. Then Riku said, "Starting on the right foot- aaannd a-one-two-three-" and it did go better. Kairi was smaller than he, and went willingly where Riku led. And there was no habit of rivalry between her and Riku, or her and Sora for that matter. Once she had come between them like a chasm- but now she was a bridge, linking them together, and Sora could feel Riku's every move through her. Her hair brushed across his cheek, and he leaned his head forward so his nose was in the space behind her ear, let his eyes flutter closed . . .

"Don't fall asleep, you ninny, it's your turn again," Kairi said.

Sora's eyes snapped open. "I totally wasn't!"

"Typical," Riku sighed. "We can stop . . ."

"No way! I'm going to get this!" He switched places with a sniggering Kairi again and grabbed Riku, not-so-accidentally jabbing the place he _knew_ Riku was ticklish just to make him jump. "Right foot first, right?"

It didn't precisely go better that Sora could tell. Riku's litany of instructions was no different- Sora glared in fierce concentration at the point just above Riku's loosened school tie and tried to follow along. All his endless combat training just seemed to get in the way- his instinct was to move against, not with. It didn't help that through his hand on Riku's arm, and Kairi's on his waist, he got an early warning about what was coming next.

Until, of course, he looked up and caught Riku's eyes- and then suddenly he was falling, or perhaps flying . . . at least floating. Certainly his feet weren't touching the ground. Or perhaps that was too gentle a metaphor, and it was more like being rolled under by a sea-green wave, and up and down were obliterated, without meaning. The color of the boundless oceans around the islands, and Kairi's breath ruffling the back of his collar like the breeze off the surf, two pairs of arms close around him, holding him tight in a circle of silence and stillness that became his everything-

-he blinked up into that vast sea. "I was just getting the hang of it, why did you stop?"

"You're standing on my foot," said Riku.

At that exact moment the bell rang, and as soon as Sora sheepishly lifted his foot Riku stepped back. "I have class," he mumbled, grabbed his school bag, and hightailed it for the stairs.

Sora and Kairi both had a free period; they stood frozen in place, staring after him. "Was . . . was he blushing?" Kairi asked finally.

A moment later she turned so they were back-to-back, and with identical sighs they slid to the ground, leaning against each other. "That," said Sora, "was _awesome_."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed, letting her head fall back against his with a muffled thud. "So. How long can you plausibly suck at dancing?"

"Geez. Um." Sora thought about it. "At _least_ three weeks."

"This is gonna be the best three weeks _ever_." Kairi's fingers found his and wove between them. "Hey. Do you think Riku knows how to tango?"

Sora's brain ceased functioning. "Nngh," he managed.

"I mean, the King taught him to dance, but . . . well, you should never underestimate the King- and can you _imagine_-"

Sora could, although he couldn't settle on what to imagine first. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

"Mmm," said Kairi, and he could almost feel her playful smile. "Then how about dancing?"

Sora bounced to he feet and offered her a hand. "Now _there's_ an idea. What're you up for?"

She accepted it, and Sora swung her between his legs and then heaved back the other way so that she came up and landed, laughing, on her feet. "Hmm, after all that waltzing . . . how about salsa?"

Sora grinned and pulled her close. "You're on."

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